On Feb. 7, the Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School (PSO) senior boys' basketball team hosted David Stoddart School from Clinton in an afternoon match and came away with their first win of the season.
A slow first quarter saw PSO Eagles ahead with a score of 6-5 but they widened the gap to 21-12 by halftime.
Clinton brought the score to within five points in the third quarter, but PSO had a scoring streak of their own in the fourth to end the game 34-22 in their favour.
Jesse Granberg led the scoring for PSO with 15 points and Bharm Pannu added eight points.
"I was pleased that the guys minimized their turnovers this game and held on for the win," says coach Rick Barker.
Last weekend, PSO travelled to Ashcroft for an eight-team tournament, but only six of their 10 players could make the trip.
Pannu, Cole Hlokoff, Granberg, Craig Hales, Quinn Axelson and Trevor Schwab took to the hard-court, but it wasn't long until a couple of players were in foul trouble. Granberg, one of the team's leading scorers, hurt his knee on top of fouling out of the first game against the Ashcroft Rams.
The Eagles were down by 13 at the half, finishing out that game 64-32.
"It was really hard fought," says Barker, "but we were hurting for numbers."
Schwab led the scoring in that game with 12 points and was awarded a player of the game T-shirt for his efforts.
Game 2, against Maple Ridge Hornets saw the Lower Mainland squad get off to a strong start, which carried over to a 55-32 loss for PSO.
Hlokoff and Granberg led the scoring and Hlokoff was awarded MVP for that game.
A game for seventh place with Clearwater ended in a 63-28 defeat for PSO after two of their players fouled out with nine minutes left on the clock.
"The guys played the last quarter pretty much with four men and they held their own during that time," says Barker, who is assisted by Ogden teacher/coach Chris Leflufy.
Pannu was awarded MVP for netting 10 points for the Eagles.
